From Darker Days
by Roguehunter11
Summary: I am outmatched, and it is my own damn fault. Because I am in the forest. Because I fight in the light of the moon. Because I am being hunted. I am outmatched, and I am running out of time. Gamer!Percy Probablygoingtobechanged!Summary


In the last 6 years of my life I have reached a single conclusion that I hold as absolute; all sentient life is cursed with an insatiable desire and addiction to one thing…

Power

Strength, Influence, Wealth, Intelligence, Charisma; all of these things and dozens more are just different words for the same thing. Even those who wish to help others or who give up something that there's for someone else seek it, the power to make a difference. Those who profess to be willing to give up all the wealth and influence for something they've lost -be it a loved one or a chance they never took- wish for the power to reclaim what they lost.

So it is that I can say with total confidence that the only thing that separates the good guys from the bad guys, saints from demons, good from evil, is the reason for which one desires power.

As for where I fall on that spectrum? I don't know really, I like to think of myself as one of the good guys, and at the very least I'm not one of the bad guys.

I -like all people- desire power, and unlike most I possess a great deal of it. Yet for all my power and ability I wish for more power, for power I know in my heart I will never attain, for the power to change what has already occurred, for the power prevent my mother's death 6 years ago, for the power to go back to the peaceful days that ended so long ago.

My name is Perseus Jackson, 12-year-old orphaned demi-god and, above that, «The Gamer»

* * *

 **Character Info**

 **Name:** Perseus (Percy) Jackson **  
Race:** «Greater» Demi-god **  
Age:** 12 **  
Titles:** Son of Poseidon. Bane of the Vile blood. Army killer. Monster hunter. One who has seen beyond the outer gates.  
 **Character theme (Peaceful):** CV Order of Ecclesia "Wandering the crystal blue" (Extended)  
 **Character theme (Battle): "** Overtake You" by Red  
 **Character theme (Battered but not broken/A Hero's resolve):** "My Name" by Shinedown. **  
Character theme (Rampage/Berserker Rage)** : "Criminal" by Disturbed  
 **Character theme (Aftermath/Triumphant):** "Who Watches the Heroes" by Really slow motion  
 **Character theme (A haunting past/Nightmares reawaken):** "Honeythief" by Halou

 **Level:** 214 **  
1st class:** «Legendary» «Arcane» «Elite» Knight **  
2** **nd** **class:** «Elite» «Mercurial» Blade Dancer **  
3** **rd** **class:** «Skilled» «Divine-blooded» Sorcerer **  
4** **th** **class:** «Skilled» Shinobi

* * *

 **Character status**

 **Max health: 5885  
Max divine power: 45780  
Max magic power: 91560  
Defense rating: 631  
Vitality: 1177  
Divinity: 2289  
Intelligence: 937  
Strength: 1878  
Endurance: 1262  
Agility: 1283**

 **Stat points: 0**

 **Luck: ?  
Charisma: ?**

* * *

 **Active class stat bonuses** (+7 Vit, +15 Str, +10 End, +10 Agi, +6 Int, +9 Div per level) **  
Racial class stat bonuses** (+2 Vit, +2 Str, +2 End, +2 Agi, +2 Int, +12 Div per level)

 **1** **st** **class (unlocked at lv 1)  
«Legendary» «Arcane» «Elite» Knight **(+7 Vit, Str, and End per lv. +2 Div and Int per lv. Extreme growth rate bonus towards physical combat skills. Small growth rate bonus to magic skills)

 **Basic effects:** +2 Vitality, Strength, and Endurance per level. Moderate bonus to growth rate of physical combat skills. **  
«Legendary» bonus effects:** Additional +3 Vitality, strength, and Endurance per level. Physical combat skill growth rate bonus increased to Large. **  
«Arcane» bonus effects:** +2 to Divinity and Intelligence per level. Small growth rate bonus to magic skills. **  
«Elite» bonus effects:** Additional +2 Vitality, strength, and Endurance per level. Physical combat skill growth rate bonus increased to Extreme.

 **2** **nd** **class (Unlocked at lv 60)  
«Elite» «Mercurial» Blade Dancer **(+7 Agi per lv. +5 Str per lv. Extreme growth rate bonus towards bladed weapon skills. Colossal growth rate bonus towards evasion skills.)

 **Basic effects:** +3 Agility and Strength per level. Large bonus to growth rate of Evasion and bladed weapon combat skills. **  
«Elite» bonus effects:** Additional +2 Agility and Strength per level. Evasion and bladed weapon combat skill growth bonus increased to Extreme. **  
«Mercurial» bonus effects:** Additional +2 agility per level. Evasion skill growth bonus increased to Colossal.

 **3** **rd** **class (Unlocked at lv 120)  
«Skilled» «Divine-blooded» Sorcerer **(+4 Int per lv. +7 Divinity per level. Moderate boost to growth rate of mortal and divine magic skills.)

 **Basic effects:** +3 Intelligence and Divinity per level. Moderate bonus to growth rate of all mortal magic skills.  
 **«Skilled» bonus effects:** +1 intelligence and Divinity per level. **  
«Divine-blooded» bonus effects:** +3 Divinity per level. Moderate boost to growth rate of all divine magic skills.

 **4** **th** **class (Unlocked at lv 180)  
«Skilled» Shinobi **(+3 Str, Agi, and End per level. Moderate boost to the growth rate of covert skills)

 **Basic effects:** +2 to Strength, Agility, and Endurance per level. Moderate boost to the growth rate of all covert skills.  
 **«Skilled» bonus effects:** +1 to Strength, Agility, and Endurance per level.

 **5** **th** **class (Locked until lv 240)**

 **Racial class (innate)  
«Greater» Demigod **(+2 Str, Agi, End, Vit, and Int per lv. +12 Div per lv. Moderate boost to growth rate of all skills. Drastic increase to Divine power tolerance.)

 **Basic effects:** +2 to all stats except Luck and Charisma per level. Moderate boost to growth rate of all skills. **  
«Greater» bonus effects:** +10 Divinity per level, quantity of Divine power and degree of Divine power growth doubled. Ability to endure or resist the effects of divine power both externally and internally increased drastically.

* * *

 **Traits**

 **Divine blooded sorcerer:** As a god-blooded individual who has learned to access mana, your maximum mana is twice that of your maximum Divine power and recovers much more quickly than a mortal Sorcerer's would. You may also augment your magic with Divine power for increased potency, range, and area of affect.

 **Knight of Honor; A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands:** You've fought with anything and everything at your disposal, often displaying skill most would need years to acquire the second you picked up a new and unfamiliar weapon type. Temporarily allows the Gamer to use any weapon type picked up during battle at a proficiency level equivalent to 80% of the Gamer's highest weapon skill, proficiency level will drop the longer the weapon is used without being replaced to a minimum of 50% of the Gamer's highest weapon skill. Skill Eternal Arms mastery unlocked.

 **Perfection of intent:** A skilled combatant can kill anything, but a legendary one only kills what they wish to. Allows for the Gamer to fight all out without risk of inadvertently killing an opponent they don't desire dead. This also greatly increases your ability to aim for specific weak points and openings during combat.

 **War child:** You have grown up in the fires of combat and as such possess senses and awareness greater than most. Makes it extremely difficultly for the Gamer to be ambushed. Greatly reduces effect of environmental debuffs including bad terrain, low visibility, and darkness. Makes it more difficult to acknowledge a location as being safe enough for the Gamer to 'switch off' as it were.

 **Slayer of the** **W̸̲͔̦̃** _ **n̷̤̿̕**_ **Ä̶͈̘̰̮́** _ **ȋ̴̱͎͒̊ͅ**_ **Ḱ̶̻̹** _ **g̷̢͗**_ **I̶̮͔͊̏͘͜** _ **h̸̗̹͔͎͆**_ **N̴̠͚͒** _ **t̷̢͓͉̾͜**_ **G̴̯̤̖͎̔** _ **m̴̠̝͝**_ **T̸̗́** _ **ä̷̱͈̈̍̕**_ **Ḣ̷̼̱̍** _ **r̷͇̈̊̔̍**_ **E̸̡̯̖͕̓̔͆̑** _ **e̴͙͒̅̽͝**_ **W̸̢͓͘** _ **a̷̬̍͠**_ **A̷̝͘** _ **b̷̧̤̈́̈́̒͝**_ **L̸͍͓͑̉** _ **y̵͚̓**_ **K̷̞̫͈̎̈̐̒** _ **s̵͔͈̤̫͋**_ **Ȋ̶̺͑̇͛** _ **s̸̺̮̔**_ **N̶̡̖̠͋** _ **ȯ̶̢̼̉̆̑**_ **G̷̠̳͓͊̿̊͝** _ **ļ̵̪̙͉̐**_ **G̴̮̗͎͌** _ **ď̸̟͉̳̬̍̆̆**_ **Ọ̶̲̻͕͂̑͠͝** _ **ọ̶͚͚̥̈**_ **D̵͕͎̊̃̒̓** _ **ṋ̴͍͌̀ḛ̷͔́̓**_ :Y̷̼̐̈́o̸̬͗u̶̝̅̓ ̸͓̝̀h̴͇͓̔͝ä̸̹́͜v̶̼̯̈́͛ê̸̖̲̔ ̷̣͐ş̸̭̓l̶̩̦̈ǎ̶̡̧̂i̴̝̻̒ņ̸̖̋ ̸̠̬̍t̷̬̹̽ḥ̶͛ä̶̟̮͒t̶̗͔̽ ̶̧̺̅̽w̶͓̖̍͐h̴̪͔̉͝i̵̦̎c̵̱̜̀́h̴̊͜ ̵͖̑s̸̱̾h̶̺̅͊͜ó̴͙u̷͖̿l̸̗̍͒͜d̵̨̘͑̈́ ̶̜̔̊n̶͉̔e̷̠̕v̵̡̅é̵̻͆r̸̪̝̍̌ ̵͖͌h̵̲͂͑a̸͍̅͊v̸̢̛͐e̵̿͒͜ ̶̪̗̐b̶̨̾e̴̱͓͠e̸̱̅̓n̸̩͙͝ _"Forget, child of man and god"_ A̷̡̺͒͠ ̴̠̱̀b̴̙̕ȩ̸̨̛a̴̲̟̎s̵̬̯̈́̉ţ̴̔ ̸̯͌ǫ̶̇̒f̴͇̞̍́ ̸͙̗͠t̸̘̏͝ḩ̷͗̎e̴̟̜̓̉ ̴̠͝ȩ̵̩͝n̵̻̼̒d̷̡̠̋͗ " _Forget this nightmare, this abomination"_ Ă̶̞͈̈́ ̷̙̋̽b̵̤̆͜͝ė̸̠ă̵̼s̵̨̛̭̑t̴̩̳́̂ ̴̱͔̎b̴̥̠͒o̴̳̪͠ř̵͍n̶̩͕̐ ̴͙͎̀õ̶̱̔f̵͖͓̈ ̶̧̣̌͊h̴̥̄u̷̫̺͂m̴̖̎͗a̴̅̔ͅn̴͚̜͗̈i̴̺͗̂t̵̲͉͛͘i̸̠͆̅e̶̙͉̽͌s̸͓̐ ̸̨̑͝d̴̝̆̍a̴̘̝͊ȑ̴̥̲͝k̵͈̒͠n̶̻͍̈́̕ê̸̢͔ś̸͕̤̔s̵̲̫̆̑ _"Be spared this horror, at least for now"_ A̴͎̟͗̓ ̴͈̝̅̀b̴̲͐͜ẹ̵̜͋̓ą̵͊s̷̗͎͑ṯ̷̆ ̶̲̑͆r̶̗̰͂a̷͉͊ḭ̸̧̓s̵̯̤̉ė̵͓d̸̖̄̂ ̴̦̟̄ŏ̵̥͉̉n̵̢̋̀ ̸̜̍͆h̸̡͈̆u̵͓͌m̴̧̜̏̍å̶͇͓n̶̟͛ ̵̩̐̀s̴͉̰͗͗u̷̱͋f̷̞͐f̶̹̃̈e̶̩̋r̷̨̃͠i̴͗ͅn̶͉͎̈g̷̰̗͛ " _your efforts will not go unrewarded, but forget…"_ A̶̖̋ ̶̗͉̎̾b̷̞̮́͗e̴͆͜a̴͉̅̾s̴̻̖̔t̸̺͒̈́ ̶̝̹̈́̓t̸̹̲͆̑ḥ̶̼́a̸͚͔̕t̸̞̩̊́ ̵͈̤̑i̴̹̥͐͌s̴̈́ͅ ̴͇͝t̸̬̟̑h̴͕͆e̶̱͊͜͠ ̵̙̽r̶̰̀o̶̞̐̇ȍ̶͕̞ţ̵͐͜͠ ̸̻̐o̸̰̿̈́f̴͚͑̚ _"_ _ **Forget!...**_ _For your own good."_ Gamer ability granted.

* * *

 **Titles**

 **Son of Poseidon:** You are the son of the Greek god of ocean and a recipient of all the benefits and detriments this prescribes. Water breathing added, Universal Aquatic language added, rapid recovery when in a source of water, greater flame resistance added, Luck stat tripled when out on the open ocean, additional abilities added. -50% archery skill growth rate, 50% chance that Zeus will smite you if you try and fly, other detriments added. Due to your exceptional quantity of divine power, most detriments and maluses are greatly reduced in effect and magnitude, although Zeus is now more likely to smite you for flying. You are now nearly immortal within or in close proximity to large water sources, although this is limited by your resistance to divine power oversaturation.

 **Army killer:** The only time the enemy doesn't outnumber you is at end of a battle when only one is left alive; you are incredibly used to fighting against vastly superior numbers while surrounded, to the extent that it has become almost easy over time. Attacks from the side and behind no longer deal additional damage against the Gamer, Combat formations have 50% less effect against the Gamer, the gamer will find it much easier to inflict critical hits while outnumbered by a factor of at least 10.

 **Bane of the Vile Blood:** You have slain nearly 2 dozen noble vampires and countless droves of their lesser kin, but your crowning achievement dwarfs even this. One of the 11 surviving True Ancestors has been slain by your hand, dropping their number down to 10. Drastic increase to all stats against blood-sucking creatures of all types, although this effect is particularly potent against vampires. Your senses are no longer impaired by darkness, no matter how absolute, and you receive a moderate boost to all stats at night and in dark places.

 **Monster hunter:** By this point, you have certainly slain more monsters than days you've been alive. You have slain hundreds of different monsters, including those who are not Greek in origin, and have quickly become nigh peerless in doing so. Monsters with levels equal to or less than the Gamer suffer a 10% penalty to all combat skills and stats, Large reduction to the range within which monsters can detect the Gamer by his scent.

 **One who has seen beyond the outer gates:** The world is a dangerous place, especially for those who no longer have any blissful ignorance left to hide behind. Almost every monster in every pantheon and mythology is real, and many still walk the earth. Knowing this has deprived you of the safety most demigods possess, removing your near immunity to monsters outside of your own pantheon and leaving all the world's evils to nip at your heels. Still this is not entirely without benefits as you are now able to see through almost all forms of illusions and trickery, including the mist and its various counterparts within other pantheons.

* * *

 _ **Major skills (prominent skills used by the Gamer)**_

 **Sword mastery Lv 78:** You are a true master swordsman with skill eclipsing all but the greatest of heroes, standing as an equal to many lesser war gods.

 **Observe Lv 73:** You can see the level and status of all characters less than 146 levels above you.

 **Evasion Lv 71:** You can dodge bullets. You are nearing the level of a lesser war god.

 **Stealth Lv 71:** You could slip into the Pentagon for a coffee break 5 times a week if you wanted to. Through the front door.

 **Detection lv 71:** Only the stealthiest of individuals can evade your detection for more than a scarce few seconds.

 **3-dimensional movement lv 66:** You can climb the outside of a skyscraper about as easily as most people can reach the top on an elevator.

 **Unarmed combat lv 64:** You once beat up 4 fully armed cyclopes with your bare hands, you are somewhat superior to most legendary heroes.

 **Cooking lv 64:** As it turns out, trying, and often succeeding, in turning stale food, the remaining spoils from monsters, and whatever the hell else you scavenge on the streets into something edible without any proper utensils or cooking implements makes cooking with actual ingredients in an actual kitchen a breeze by comparison. You are one of the best chiefs alive, you can even cook well enough to satisfy most deities.

 **Shield mastery Lv 60:** You are incredibly skilled with the usage of a shield, comparable to a Legendary hero.

 **Crafting lv 58:** From blacksmithing to leatherworking, if given the tools and the raw materials you can create extremely high-quality equipment and items.

 **Throwing weapons lv 57:** because apparently splitting darts on a dartboard is a thing. You are one of the most skilled throwing weapon users alive.

 **Water manipulation lv 56:** You are one of the most skilled water users in the current era.

 **Eternal Arms Mastery lv 38:** You are able to use any weapon in existence with extreme competence, if not yet to the extent of being an expert. This skill does not affect individual weapon masteries of higher levels in any manner.

 **Divine Empowerment lv36:** Drawing forth your inherent divinity, you are capable of increasing your physical abilities in proportion to the amount of power used, although this is done at the cost of great strain on your body. Overuse can lead to your body breaking down, being internally immolated, or even reduced to a puddle depending on severity. At your level of mastery, it has recently become possible to use this on mundane objects: Enhancing all aspects of said object and granting even the most insignificant of things the ability to harm and even kill monsters. You are currently only able to influence supernatural metals -such as celestial bronze- minutely and mundane materials will typically break down in a matter of minutes.

 **Sorcery lv 32:** You are a competent magic user, able to use a fairly impressive array of spells and magic arts, especially for someone from the modern era.

 **Rune Crafting lv 25:** You have reach the lower end of true competence in the usage and creation of Magic runes, a notable achievement in the modern era.

 **Divine Sorcery lv 19:** You are beginning to get a grasp on the method of mixing mundane mortal magic with your divine power to unleash overwhelmingly powerful magics.

 **Divine Rune Crafting lv 15:** You have only just barely reached the level of no longer being hopeless, you are only able to create divine runes with weak effects at this point.

 ***other skills displayed in the Minor Skills tab**

* * *

Not too shabby if I say so myself. A normal adult human in the modern era would possess roughly 50-60 in their physical stats and around 500 or more in intelligence, with luck and charisma having little to no trend. Divinity for pure blooded mortals was replace with a spirit stat, which was typically below 20 for your average joe. Unfortunately, that doesn't really help considering very few of my opponents are normal humans. Even without my Gamer ability it was completely possible for a demigod to reach the same level of physical ability as me, sure it would probably take at least a decade or two of nonstop hellish training (not that demigods typically make it pass their 20's admittedly) and a certain level of talent but they could indeed reach it. I was no fool, I was probably a good enough match for most of the strongest Greek heroes in history, my namesake included, but the thing is those guys nearly died several times during their various quests even with their legendary prowess.

This is of course because for almost every legendary hero there is at least one legendary monster that they killed. Seeing as Greco-Roman monsters don't stay dead for all that long and the fact that there has been a serious decline in the number of clear-sighted mortal monster hunters in modern times, the Monster to demigod ratio is horribly, horribly slanted right now. Like almost 300 monsters for every demigod slanted. Even with groups like Artemis's hunters and camp half-blood around, it is a fact that monster life expectancy is at an all-time high, and unfortunately demigods aren't the only ones who get stronger and more skilled through training.

The only saving grace to all this was that upon death monsters regressed somewhat; growing weaker and less skilled, like a character losing skill proficiency and experience upon death in an RPG game. This meant that monsters didn't simply progress endlessly, else I would be facing what amounted to warriors with thousands of years' worth of skill and battle experience. The longer a monster took to revive the less it would lose, but even the smallest decrease was at least 15% of their current level of skill.

That was, unfortunately, limiting it solely to the Greco-Roman pantheon of nasties. The fact that all mythology and mythos was real to some extent thanks to a mixture of primal energies and the transcendent human will was something that became apparent to me very early on in my introduction to the supernatural, as the very incident that introduced me to it wasn't Greek in nature. Similar to the way not knowing about one's status as a demi-god dampens how much one draws monsters, my awareness of threats separate from Greco-Roman ones fundamentally broke the invisible barrier restricting the things trying to murder me to my own mythological affiliation.

That said, that barrier would have probably been broken anyway sooner or later, seeing that even entirely lacking knowledge of it can be overcome with enough raw power (which I have in spades). I've had more problems with vampires than I really care to remember, an unfortunate side effect of semi-divine blood being like bloodsucker catnip. Just about the only thing I was thankful for around this particular situation was that most other pantheons had monsters that actually died when you killed them.

Yet in another sense their ability to die was a bit of a downside too, as their awareness of the fact that they'd stay dead made they much more unrelenting than most Greco-Roman monsters -who tended to just flop over once given a relatively severe wound- and would fight and resist until the very end. While they wouldn't be able to possess experience from prior 'lives' the survival instinct they possessed made them more dangerous in some ways than Greco-Roman monsters could ever be.

Even putting Legendary monsters to the side, monsters have an annoying tendency to group up or be grouped up around one relatively strong monster, and all told quantity can sometimes be a quality of its own, one I never get to take advantage of, being a loner and all. While I suppose I could go and join that Camp half-blood place I had heard about, by the time I learned about it I could more or less deal with life as a wanderer in relative comfort.

There was also the fact that my presence might attract threats that weren't Greco-Roman in nature and I wasn't sure if the wards in that place were effective against Vampires (and believe me it was usually f*cking vampires). There was also the fact that there had been murmurs about some war between the gods or whatever running around recently, and I didn't particularly want to have to deal with any of that.

Not wanting something, of course, does not mean that it won't happen and if you were to wonder at the cause of my current introspection you might not be surprised at it being the fact that something I did not want to happen, had happened.

* * *

"You are to give up your weapons and return with me to Olympus for questioning on the whereabouts of my father's master bolt" an authoritarian voice ordered me, feminine and filled with accusation mixed with distain "You have no right to negotiate or complain thief, regardless of your status as a Son of Poseidon".

Glancing idly at the numerous female figures garbed in silver etched clothing and wielding bows and hunting knives that surrounded me, I returned my gaze to the individual confronting me.

 **Goddess of the Hunt, Forests and Hills, the Moon, and Archery  
Lv: 254 (?)  
Artemis/Diana**

I paused for a moment before sighing "I don't suppose you'd believe me If I said I wasn't the thief? Or that I've never seen Zeus' master bolt or -Hades- even been to Olympus before?"

"As if I'd ever take a boy's word on something like that, much less a son of one of my uncles at a time like this." The goddess of the hunt snarled "Now lay down your weapons or we will bring you down." she ordered.

I hummed once, nodding noncommittally "Yeah I suppose that was a bit much to ask for…" I noted trailing off for a second with a sigh but making no move to drop my weapons even as the hunters surrounding me glared and the goddess in front of me neared the end of her patience.

"Last warning!" she threatened raising her arm in preparation to signal her huntresses to attack.

Throwing aside my casual attitude I spoke with authority and unrelenting certainty "I swear on the River Styx that I did not steal Zeus' Lightning Bolt" the goddess in front of me blinked at that but I bowled over her attempt to reply as I continued "I swear on the River Styx that I have not once been to Olympus prior to this moment. I swear on the River Styx that I have no memories of ever meeting my own father, much less of becoming part of some plan of his!" I declared as my voice grew, nearing a roar at this point "I swear on the River Styx that I have no interest in anything relating to the gods save the desire for them to leave me alone!" I finished fiercely, my voice echoing throughout the quiet forest.

The goddess in front of me blinked again, sighing once and frowning lightly "Regardless" she began, her voice calm and professional, with a hint of apology that I may well have imagined "You are to lay down your weapons and return with us to Olympus as per my father's orders"

Glancing around at the huntresses surrounding me I saw that the hatred in their eyes had diminished somewhat as well, what remained being on account of my gender rather than them believing me a thief or traitor. Yet still they all remained ready to capture me on a moment's notice.

I let out a bitter laugh at this, turning my gaze once more back to the goddess in front of me "Of course," I noted tiredly "this was never about any evidence pointing to me was it, I'm just a convenient target for your father to pent his frustration at while looking like he's doing something" I scoffed "or maybe just an easy way to off a child of the big 3 so they can continue dodging some prophecy they've been dancing around for nearly a hundred years, like any of you can deny the bloody fates"

Hostility returned to the eyes of the goddess in front of me "Watch your tongue boy"

I huffed, deliberately continuing to stoke her rage "Why?" I asked "I'm not enough of an idiot that I can fool myself into thinking that there is any chance of me getting out of this as it is. The moment I'm there your father will probably just kill me, and if not, there is still no chance I will be left alone, no matter what I do." I stated matter-of-factly "Because no matter my innocence in this matter, your father will not excuse the sin of me being born. From the very beginning it did not matter if I was innocent or guilty, good or evil, polite or irreverent, whether I go quietly or resist tooth and nail, I was born… and from that very moment -regardless of my own choices- I was going to pay for it."

Artemis simply stared at me "You're mad" she noted simply.

I laughed at that "Perhaps, but even still at least I'm making my own choices." I noted even as I drew my weapons calmly, seemingly ignoring the fact that I was surrounded as I moved without worry. Gripping my hand and a half sword Hurricane in one hand and my short sword Sinking Moon (oh the irony) in the other I continued "I will not be slaughtered like a mad beast, nor will I go quietly like a muzzled dog. If you want me, then bring me down" I declared "But I will resist you every step of the way with everything I have."

The goddess of the hunt met my gaze for a prolonged moment, her eyes unreadable before she sighed and signaled her hunters "Bring him down" she ordered.

The clearing exploded into furious movement.

Even as I kept my gaze fixed on the goddess in front of me, attempting to judge how far she'd let things go before stepping in, I remained totally aware of the hunters surrounding me through my hydrokinesis.

While I was entirely unable to manipulate it -save in regards to my own- blood was still mostly water and sensing it was no great challenge. Though this could only give me the most general understanding of my opponents' movements, bows were one of the few weapons I could understand the attack patterns of fairly accurately, seeing as it required a very specific posture and body alignment to your target in order to fire one properly, save perhaps for short bows which I'd confirmed none of the hunters had.

So it was that the second the huntresses surrounding me released a volley I easily slipped out of its way, content in the knowledge that the goddess of the hunt would not intervene quite yet. Keeping to a speed roughly level with the huntresses I was facing, I met the handful of them that had advanced on me with hunting knives head on.

Even as I withheld the full brunt of my physical prowess it quickly became apparent that there was a rather severe gap between them and me, for although they were faux immortals that very nature inflicted them with the same sluggish growth other immortals were inflicted with, even hundreds of years for them had not granted them the same skill half a dozen years of hellish battle had forged within me. That is ignoring the fact that they, as Huntresses, likely took much more cautious approaches to battle that -while safer- wouldn't cultivate the extreme levels of skill that couldn't be attained with mere training that I myself possessed.

Bones were broken and skin was sliced as I dished out debilitating but far from lethal wounds that served to drop 4 huntresses within seconds even as half the remaining ones closed in on me under the covering fire of the rest.

"You bastard" One of them roared, drawing my attention to her swiftly.

 **Lieutenant of Artemis  
Lv 125  
Zoë Nightshade**

A rather stark contrast to the other huntresses -who were between level 70 and level 80 or so- Artemis' apparent second in command had actually breached the level 100 barrier. As they approached I waited as long as I could before bolting to the side, using much more of my speed than I had earlier to quickly target the archers on the opposite side of the clearing from the goddess of the hunt, knocking them out quickly before they could draw their melee weapons and then spinning around, my eyes focusing on Artemis as I leapt down from the trees to meet the still charging hunters led by said goddesses' lieutenant.

Instinct told me that I could down one maybe two more hunters before she moved to intervene, and that was likely only because I was obviously holding my attacks back to nonlethal levels. Easily putting aside my aggravation at my prospective doom being used as what was likely intended to be a teachable moment by the goddess of the hunt, I moved to take advantage of her own failure to judge my ability.

Fighting the goddess of the hunt would be extremely difficult, if I hadn't broken the spirit of her hunters enough that they withheld from intervening entirely then it was fully possible I would make a momentary slipup after over focusing on fighting Artemis which would spell my loss. Although it was aggravating I would have to over focus, trying to remain vigilant of other threats would make it near impossible to fully keep track of the goddesses' movements; if I could even do so in the first place. That being the case, I had to break their spirit now and I had to do it without question.

So it was that upon landing in front of the overwhelming majority of the still conscious hunters I flooded my legs with divine power and moved with every ounce of speed I could muster descending upon the hunters like a storm. Weapons were batted from hands even as kicks and weapon hilts bashed into them, knocking them out as they collapsed like broken puppets, alive but firmly out of commission. I desperately moved downing as many as I could before-

An almost untraceable silver blur shot towards me, forcing me to instantly disengage from the remaining hunters and focus the entirety of my ability on not being carved into pieces within the first 5 seconds of my first fight with a deity. Gritting my teeth, I readied myself for the hardest fight of my life.

* * *

I misjudged him… I made a mistake…

Even as I descended upon him with speed no demigod in the modern era should be capable of matching -much less one of his age- he stood firm, defending against my strikes with skill and strength that were more befitting of minor god of war than a mere demigod.

No that was wrong, that level was more correctly assigned to his base abilities. With the divine power he channeled deliberately and with some competence his physical abilities had risen to the point where he was strong and fast enough to rival my own physical prowess outside of my true form, even if said empowerment inevitably came with a time limit.

I had waited initially, quelling my own intent to intercede when I noticed he was refraining from fatal blows -likely smart enough to realize that killing even one of my hunters would mean me relentlessly hunting him down to the ends of the earth even if he somehow miraculously escaped today- in order to let this be a lesson to my hunters about rushing in against a seemingly vulnerable foe. That intent and the confidence behind it soon revealed itself to be hubris on my part.

I had taken his continuous glances and attentiveness to my own position to be fear of me interceding, it hadn't been. He had been judging how close he could edge to the point I would interfere before going all out and dealing as much damage past that point as he could before I could react.

The result…

In the two and a half seconds it had taken for me to regain my wits and move he had debilitated another half of my entire hunt including my lieutenant nearly unopposed.

Pushing forward with sudden strength I managed to push the boy I was fighting back, dealing no damage but forcing him to back step quickly to regain his balance, giving me some space and time as my eyes darted across the clearly quickly.

3/4ths of my hunters including my lieutenant were down for the count, a considerable portion of which needed treatment lest their wounds become infected and I be forced to ask my brother for help once more to prevent long term damage. This was a stark difference from the 1/4th that had been downed prior to his sudden escalation, after all it doesn't take a genius to see the difference between having 3 healthy hunters for every injured one and having 3 injured for every healthy one.

Meeting my target's gaze from where he stood in a combat stance at the edge of the clearing I took advantage of the momentarily lull to organize my remaining hunters "I will handle this one," I ordered "take your injured sisters out of here and set up camp nearby, I will be along shortly."

"Will you now?" my target huffed, having momentarily ceased his usage of divine empowerment with almost unnerving ease "Some part of me has known this moment would come sooner or later, and Hades if I haven't prepared for it, you calling the win so early seems a bit presumptuous of you, goddess of the hunt." He snarked, making no move to so much as hinder the removal of my downed hunters from the clearing.

I remained silent for a moment before speaking "You are trying to make me hate you to the greatest degree possible yet are unwilling to actually cause permanent harm to even one of my hunters in order to so" I note, continuing the standoff as my downed hunters are steadily brought out of the line of fire.

My target sighed slightly "Noticed that bit, huh? Well I suppose the nature of your domains gives you quite a bit of an edge in this case doesn't it, after all what skilled hunter can't quickly learn of their own target?" he noted noncommittally "At the very least, they won't misjudge the same target twice, will they, oh great goddess of the hunt?" he jabbed.

I tensed at that, ignoring the jab in favor of what he referenced in regards to my domains "What are you…" I murmured inadvertently, idly noting that my hunters were now firmly out of the clearing, the grace my blessing granted them having allowed the conscious ones to move their injured sisters to safety at full speed without risk.

"I read a lot," the boy noted "enough that it might even be considered above average by the standards of a child of Athena," he patted an oddly inscribed pouch on his thigh "perks of having an expanded space bag is that I can just take a library with me, although most of what I find killing monsters and raiding the ruins hidden from mortals isn't what you can find in your run of the mill library." He laughed "Put enough old stores together and you start learning things about gods that maybe they don't want figured out, particularly things like how your power waxes and wanes based on what you are doing and how it relates to your domain."

Piercing sea green eyes shoot through me "You are strongest while hunting, weakest while being hunted, the light of the moon grants you a steady flow of power while its absence leaves you unsettled, the forests and hills are your home but desert valleys are death to you." He smiles bitterly "Well that's mostly conjecture, but it seems I might be right." He shrugs "the fact that you're even here fighting, sorry, hunting me, is proof in itself I guess. After all, gods cannot attack mortals, that is one of the laws even you are beholden to, but although gods cannot attack them, you alone may hunt them." he smiles at this "Yet even that has its limits, if I'm right even with the latitude your domain grants you, using your true form in a fight against a mortal still steps beyond the boundaries of the rules, regardless of whether or not you term it a hunt"

Internally shaking myself out of my shock I glared at my target "For someone who claims to want nothing to do with the gods you sure know a lot about them."

A scoff is my answer "You in particular, actually, seeing as you are what amounts to my final threat from the Greek pantheon. So long as I refuse their challenges and do not attack them, none of the other gods can actually attack me directly, they can only send monsters or others of their subordinates to harass me, and by this point I'm sure you can tell that the only monsters strong enough to face me are those that are far too prideful to ever bow to the gods or otherwise those in positions they cannot be easily removed from." He pauses, exhaling once before finishing "If I can well and truly overcome you then I can finally be free of what chains me to my father and the rest of the Olympians"

My target's posture shifts, his eyes sharpening in preparation for battle "Yet that is only if I can overcome you now, if I succumb and am dragged back to Olympus I will be drowned in technicalities such that even they will find methods of striking at me directly. Their thousands of years of experience at what amounts to court politics makes that inevitable." A pause "If I fall here, I will never be free. So I will give all that I have in order to win this fight, goddess of the hunt." Divine power flickers around him as a pressure which should not belong to a mortal -demigod or no- builds up around him "So can you handle it?" he asks, his voice a whisper that then gives way to a great roar "My everything!" He shouts, shooting forward at me as the battle is joined.

* * *

I have never been faster than I am right now, just as I have never been stronger or more skilled or more precise or more overwhelming deadly than I am in this moment. Even my relatively lesser skill in Sorcery and magic seems to have chosen today to perform above and beyond anything I'd ever done before as spells I once struggled with come easily and immediately. In any past battle I can remember the me now would have dominated, even the 9-headed hydra that had destroyed my shield and nearly killed me around a year ago would have been butchered with contemptuous ease and yet, for all that, it is not enough…

A silver blur matches my speed step for step, meeting my strongest blows with precision and grace that makes light of any minor advantage in raw power I might or might not have possessed, all this even as twin daggers dealt with my own two weapons with skill half a step greater than my own.

I…

I am outmatched, and it is my own damn fault.

Because I am in the forest.

Because I fight in the light of the moon.

Because I am being hunted.

I am outmatched, and I am running out of time.

The divine power I have brought up from its resting place within my body starts to burn within my muscles even as my skin begins to steam slightly.

The small cuts that riddle my arms and body stand ready to leak out my lifeblood the moment I cease holding it back, another draw of power I cannot afford but cannot do without.

My weapons -the fruits of many battles and prolonged efforts- start to chip and dull, for I am no legendary blade smith -not yet- and my creations cannot match the weapons of a god, forged by Hephaestus and empowered by millennia of exposure to their wielder's divine power.

My armor -another of my prided creations- rendered near worthless against an opponent that so easily picks out and exploits its seams and weak points, those which my skill could not abolish without my mobility faltering.

The water skin kept safely on the small of my back, filled with water that I've spent years enriching and empowering into a source of strength and healing so attuned to me that it does not burn and strain me like even my own divine power does, yet even that power of the ocean that will never harm me -for all my grievances against its ruler- has started to run dry.

My sorcery and magics are barely inconveniences to my opponent, even my performance now -so above my normal limits- is a flat joke in a battle of this height, mere competence in the face of divinity.

But all is not yet lost.

A small stream of gold taints my opponent's silver garb, a handful of cuts that slowly seep immortal ichor, insignificant cuts that nevertheless assure me that my opponent is not entirely out of reach.

My opponent is a goddess.

I am a demi-god, more mortal than divine where it truly counts.

Yet this is to my favor as much my disfavor. For while my divine power strains and burdens me, I am not a god who, though born great, struggle to grow greater. I still possess the rapid growth and progress unique to mortals, granted as a penance for their short-lived nature. Mortals are ephemeral but fluid. Gods are eternal but near unchanging. And if one struggles to change, how can they hope to improve.

It is a desperate long shot.

A fool amongst fools' chance.

A gamble not even the world's luckiest man would bet on.

It is all I have.

So as my muscles scream and ache I push them more and more, as my divine power starts to outright burn I draw ever more of it to the surface, as my swordsmanship reaches the peak of what I know I push beyond that, sheer desperation shoveled ceaselessly into making the most miniscule of improvements.

Golden blood is spilt grandly as my blades tear momentarily through flesh, a cut deep enough that I could feel it clearly. A violent crack that sounds like a snapping bone that may or may not be mine resounds even as I keep moving, heedless of my own crumbling body, pushing myself to the absolute limit and -for a moment- I dared to hope it would be enough.

It was not.

My blackening vision betrays me as my opponent slips out of focus, and as I struggled to find my opponent once more, a colossal force impacts upon the back of my skull as my thoughts crumble into black and I lose consciousness.

* * *

Golden Ichor seeps down my clothing even as my left arm hangs limply from my side, ragged breaths leaving me as I stand staring in partial disbelief at the unconscious demi-god laying before me.

I had won.

It should have been obvious, why wouldn't a goddess defeat a demi-god and yet…

Some part of me could scarcely believe that I had won.

I had been fighting in what was my strongest state outside of my true form; I was in the forest, the moon was clear in the sky, and I was hunting my opponent. In that state I would have trampled most of the Olympian council; Ares would've likely been defeated, and I would've even been able to give my father and uncles a considerable amount of difficulty.

It had barely been enough.

I was removed from my thoughts as a voice called from behind me "Have you defeated that arrogant man yet my lad-" the voice cut off in shock and as I turned to see the hunter who had called out to me I found her looking stunned and horrified "My lady!" she cried, rushing towards me desperately "You're hurt!"

Glancing down at myself I confirmed dully to myself that yes, I was indeed hurt. My left arm was numb and limp from several broken bones, small cuts littered my torso dwarfed by the large gash seeping ichor on my stomach, just above the waist. "Yes, I suppose I am" I replied in a slightly numb detached manner "but I'll be fine"

"My lady." the hunter mumbled worriedly, her gaze shifting towards my downed target in contempt "filthy male, how dare he" she almost spat, marching towards the unconscious demi-god.

"Don't touch him" the words left my mouth almost uncalled for, before the reasons for them bubbled up into my mind "He's half dead and suffering from Divine power overexposure. I went through far too much trouble taking him down alive for him to die in transport, and at this point a particularly strong breeze might finish him off." I finished idly, noting that a faint trace of relief was present in my hunter's face albeit overshadowed by anger and disappointment.

It was rather telling that I didn't feel disappointed or ashamed that one of my hunters had been somewhat scared of approaching a half dead unconscious 12-year-old boy, more so that I somewhat understood where she was coming from.

Discarding those thoughts, I straightened and spoke with as much authority as I could in my current condition "Unless any of the others are in critical condition, I'm going to bring this one to Olympus immediately. My annoying brother can stabilize him and father can figure out what to do with him then."

At the hunter's confirmation that none of my hunters were in critical condition I immediately teleported along with my target to the center of the throne room on Olympus

* * *

I was unsurprised at the sound of arguing voices and general discontent present within the throne room upon my arrival. In fact, when said voices quieted and the discontent seemingly disappeared I was outright stunned momentarily. It took me a moment to remember the fact that I had just shown up in the middle of a meeting covered in my own blood and with a broken left arm.

'ah… no wonder they're a little bit discontented' I mused to myself before opening my mouth "I found the Son of Poseidon" I reported simply to the stunned members of my family.

My brother snapped out of his shock first, practically leaping down from his throne and to my side as a warm feeling encompassed my body. While Apollo's efforts would have been sufficient to near instantly heal a mortal or demi-god, for a full deity it would likely take at least a day or two, but the thought was still appreciated.

"What the Hades, sis!" Apollo shouted, my brother's voice filled with shock and concern "Your left arm is shattered and you've got internal bleeding and hairline fractures throughout most of your upper body, to say nothing of the 6-inch gash in your stomach" he rambled in near panic, reminding me that for all his shenanigans my brother did indeed care for me deeply, a touching thought "What the Hades did you do? Climb mount Othrys and get into a punching match with Atlas?"

"Apollo!" My father roared, drawing everyone's attention to him "Calm down." He ordered before turning his attention back to me "Artemis, my daughter, what happened to you?" he demanded, a hint of concern in his voice.

I hummed before repeating my earlier report "I found the Son of Poseidon" I affirmed before attempting to point at the half-dead demi-god on the floor with my left arm only for my brother to stop me, forcing me to use my right one, which he allowed for some reason… oh right my left one's broken and I probably shouldn't use it.

Dad blinked once "No, I mean…" he trailed off.

"She's pretty much punch drunk right now Dad," my brother interjected "you're going to have to be a bit more specific if you want something resembling a clear answer."

"You can't get drunk on punch, Apollo, it's not alcoholic" I correct my brother "and I don't drink while hunting" I finish firmly.

My father blinked once, likely equally exasperated with Apollo's silly notions of punch being alcohol before nodding once. "What happened after you found the Son of Poseidon…" he glanced at the dying demi-god behind you before frowning anger crossing his face as he turned to Poseidon "… Brother if this is your doing then I will not stand for it!" he began growing louder with each word.

"Naah!" I interjected blandly "I don't think uncle P had anything to do with this one, 'cept not keeping it in his pants, that is" I finished with a small giggle.

The entire room turned back to me and my brother frowned "is it wrong of me to find this version of sis both hilarious and adorable now that I know there won't be prolonged effects?" Apollo asked.

I blinked in confusion, looking at my brother for a moment before remembering something important "ah right, Apollo, can you use your shiny healy light to make the son of Poseidon not d- d- deading, deathificiating, unlifeing?"

"Dying?" Apollo offers uncertainty.

"at's the word!" I chirp "can you make the son of Poseidon stop dying, beating him without deathing him was hard~" I whined "if he died now after all that it would be super~ annoying."

"Right" Apollo said uncertainty, a momentary wave of his hand stabilizing the Son of Poseidon without fully healing him.

"You said Poseidon had nothing to do with this?" Dad asked again "What happened then?"

"Well me and my hunters found the Son of Poseidon and surrounded him, then I said he was a thief cause I thought he was then he swore on the Styx 4 times and now I don't." I explained concisely.

Poseidon blinked at that "He swore on the Styx 4 times? What about?" he asked, casting worried and uncertain glances at the now not as dead demi-god behind me.

"That he didn't steal dad's Lightning stick, that he ain't been to Olympus before, hasn't met his da before and has no interest in the gods but them leavin' him alone." I reiterate "after that I said he still had to come with me and he got all bitter and annoyed at everything" I continued.

"If I might interject" Athena calls out evenly "Perhaps it might be best if Artemis were to rest instead of reporting on this matter, with Hypnos drawing the events out in the form of a dream for us to watch, assuming you don't mind Artemis."

I blinked before nodding "Sure, a nap sounds great" I agree before allowing the exhaustion nipping at the edges of my mind to overcome me as darkness starts overtaking my vision and the floor rushed up at me.

"Sis!" my brother cries as the floor stops rising and a moment later I know no more.

* * *

 **A/N: This is another probably one-shot story that I decided I might as well post because why not. Tell me what you think, if it gets enough interest i might try and continue it.**


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